My Story by Mandy

Hi,

I was doing housework on 1st April 2012 in my bedroom when I had this awful pressure-pain in my head. I'm not too prone to headaches, so assumed that it was something like a migraine, and stopped what I was doing, closed the curtains and was laying on my bed within a minute of the pain coming in. I always have my mobile phone in my pocket, so I rang my husband (phone was dead) and then my mother-in-law to try to locate my hubby. This is not normal - I'm not a clingy person - but I wanted to tell him that I felt awful and wanted him to be with me as I was scared. I still thought I had a migraine at this point.

My mother-in-law, followed 2 minutes after by my husband arrived, gave me a couple of paracetamol and I persuaded them that I just needed some sleep. I managed an hour, but upon waking (freezing cold feet) I needed the loo and the pain in my head intensified as I moved. I was shivering uncontrollably, teeth chattering, and pale as a ghost. So my husband gave me the ultimatum - get in the car to go to the doctors (at the hospital's walk-in surgery, it was a Sunday) or he was calling an ambulance. So we got in the car and drove the 3 miles to the doctor. I couldn't cope with the noise in there, and immediately asked to go somewhere quiet. I then started feeling sick, grabbed one of those vomit bowls that they have in hospitals, and went off to be sick in the loo. The doctor called me and after quick tests told me to drive to a larger hospital which had a proper service/A&E. We did this, with me vomiting all the way, unable to speak or else I would have vommed some more, and I arrived at Kings Mill Hospital in Mansfield. Again I couldn't cope with the noise, went to the far end of the waiting room and just wanted to lie down. Of course, being British I didn't (!), and my husband (my hero) insisted that I was seen immediately. I was immediately diagnosed by the triage nurse as potentially having something that needed me to be laid down, and was rushed onto a trolley bed. 3 hours later, after CT scans etc, I wasput in an ambulance to the major hospital in our region, Queens Medical Centre, and onto D10 ward, which I cannot praise enough for the care they gave me.

I had another CT scan that night, and was definitively diagnosed as having a subarachnoid haemhorrage caused by a cerebral aneurism. My operation was the following afternoon, and in that time I was told to lie flat or else there was an increased risk of a re-bleed. I was totally conscious, cognitive, mobile, strong etc, and just wanted to let work know that I might be off work for a few days.

My op went well, and in the following days I seemed pretty well, just having a bad headache and dizziness (oh and back pain from being in bed so much). I left hospital after the coiling procedure 10 days after I was admitted.

Since then it seems as though I have gone downhill a little- the tiredness is really hitting me (maybe because I have started to do things), I'm having difficulty doing things with my friends (I don't want to be too far from home in case I feel ill), I can't concentrate, I don't have any get up and go, and I am so indecisive!! I spent 2 hours in Asda and had to rush at the end because my parking ticket was about to expire. It seems like each and every decision is a chore to make. I want to have a drink (alcohol) as this was a social thing that I did with my friends - but often it just makes me feel ill. Talking is so tiring, that sometimes I just don't want to speak to my husband when he gets home from work, particularly if I have had to concentrate on something during the day. As for being in social situations I find that I can only follow one thread of conversation at any one time, and get really angry if people talk over others as it excludes me from the multiple conversations, and reminds me that I am not so well.

Saying all this though, my tan is looking good and my garden is looking great with the tiny bit of gardening that I have been doing each day. I know that I'm lucky and am pleased to be here and just hope that the future can be bright. It looks very murky at the moment, very unclear, but hopefully in the next few weeks and months things will improve.